Feeding Mandarin Dragonet Frozen Cyclopods

[Brieninsac]

I have a Mandarin Goby that's been in my DT for a couple of weeks now. I've been working on growing copepods to feed him for months now. However, it's hard to see them in the DT so I wonder if there are sufficient copepods for him. I also have a White-tail Wrasse that I think is eating copepods too. So when I got him I bought a package of frozen Cyclopods and have been feeding him a 1/4 of a cube once a day. I'm thawing the Cyclopods in a little tank water and using my version of Julian's Things to put them in the area he's been hanging out.



I'm curious if this is the right approach and/or if I should feed him differently. So far he seems to be doing ok even though he's not particularly active.

[Reef Frog]

The only problem I can conjure up in my mind is that kind of food tends to float in the water column where many Mandy's might never get to it. It seems you'd need a way to keep it on the substrate.

That's why I think the PaulB style baby brine feeder & culture box would be a great idea for supplemental feeding. I've always wondered if one could be modified to dispense fish eggs to a Mandy. They eat them in the wild and eggs are one of the more nutrient dense foods in existence.

Let us know how your experiment turns out.

[Brieninsac]

By using the irrigation syringe the food is settling at the bottom. Granted some floats in the water column but most stays close to where I'm feeding it.

[Reef Frog]

Originally Posted by Brieninsac

By using the irrigation syringe the food is settling at the bottom. Granted some floats in the water column but most stays close to where I'm feeding it.

Cool. Is the fish going for this non-live food?

[Brieninsac]

Originally Posted by Reef Frog

Cool. Is the fish going for this non-live food?

It's hard to tell since they're so small. But he tends to eat around the same area I'm putting them.

Is no one else feeding their Mandarin's frozen pods?

[rickzter]

People have tried cyclopeeze and Cyclops sp. Before without success. Or else mandarins would be a hot seller! Everything eats pods so there is constant competition for this food source.

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[MondoBongo]

Originally Posted by Brieninsac

It's hard to tell since they're so small. But he tends to eat around the same area I'm putting them.

Is no one else feeding their Mandarin's frozen pods?

mine never showed any interest in frozen cyclop-eeze, but i haven't tried the pe calanus yet.

the only thing that really used to get her attention was nutramar ova, but i haven't been able to find that for a long time now.

aside from that mine's never really been interested in any of the frozen or prepared foods.

now my scooter on the other hand doesn't discriminate when it comes to food. i've seen him snag whole mysis that i never in a million years thought he would be able to eat.

[Paul B]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsGrL9nxJPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wisMeEfLTzI

[JaihWill]

Lobster eggs work for me. Wanted to try Pauls technique but was never able to get things dialed in and working. He really should sell them premade *hint*


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[Paul B]

He put up detailed instructions many times. They can be made in 5 minutes. "hint"

[Art13]

I mixed brine, mysis, bloodworms cyclopes together and shot it with a syringe in front of my mandy daily, eventually he first started on either the brine or bloodworms after about 5 days, then both them them, then the mysis, i stopped adding the cyclopes as he wasn't going for them. After that i started making my own frozen food and he would go after anything i put into the tank.

[C.Eymann]

Originally Posted by MondoBongo

mine never showed any interest in frozen cyclop-eeze, but i haven't tried the pe calanus yet.

the only thing that really used to get her attention was nutramar ova, but i haven't been able to find that for a long time now.

aside from that mine's never really been interested in any of the frozen or prepared foods.

now my scooter on the other hand doesn't discriminate when it comes to food. i've seen him snag whole mysis that i never in a million years thought he would be able to eat.

Nutramar ova prawn eggs were awesome for finicky fish, hope they start producing them again.

OP -definitely pay attention to what Paul B. Recommends, he is a master with dragonets.

[Paul B]

You can not keep a mandarin or a Supermodel fed by shooting food at it once or twice a day. They need to eat constantly, like every ten seconds. (Supermodels can eat less than half of that) THEY ALSO NEED THEIR FOOD ON THE BOTTOM AS THEY SWIM AS WELL AS A BRICK AND DON'T LOOK UP.

[Brieninsac]

Originally Posted by Paul B

You can not keep a mandarin or a Supermodel fed by shooting food at it once or twice a day. They need to eat constantly, like every ten seconds. (Supermodels can eat less than half of that) THEY ALSO NEED THEIR FOOD ON THE BOTTOM AS THEY SWIM AS WELL AS A BRICK AND DON'T LOOK UP.

Hi Paul,

I watched your videos and it appears you're using some sort of cloth caked with copepods. If so, are you rotating them from your refugium so there is always a fresh batch of pods?

I hear what you're saying about my once a day feeding not being sufficient. I'm not trying to make that his sole source of food, but rather to make sure he's getting some daily. I do see him pecking around rocks and the sand bed daily. My question and/or concern is how do I know if there are sufficient copepods for him since I can't see them and don't know if he's actually eating or just pecking around.

He does seem to be doing well swimming around more. But he's also my first Mandarin so I want to do everything I can to setup him up for success.

[MondoBongo]

Originally Posted by JaihWill

Lobster eggs work for me. Wanted to try Pauls technique but was never able to get things dialed in and working. He really should sell them premade *hint*


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i found it a little confusing at first too, but mostly because i was overthinking it.

i got a length of 3/8" rigid airline tubing tall enough to reach from the sand bed to about 2 - 3" above the rim of the tank.

then i got a small plastic funnel and fitted it to one end of the tube.

next i used a lighter to warm up the other end of the airline tubing, about 1.5" from the end. don't get it too hot, it doesn't take much to make it pliable.

then i very carefully bent at the spot where i heated till i had a 90 degree angle. using a pen to make sure the inside of the tube stayed wide open.

next i got an old NLS food container, and drilled a hole in the side just big enough to allow me to slide my newly bent airline tube in to. you want it small enough that you get some resistance, so that it can hold the tube without glue. (i prefer not to glue this together since it makes it a little easier when you need to clean it later)

then i took the lid off, and using a dremel tool cut out the center of the lid, leaving just the outside ring (kind of like the ring on a mason jar). then i took some pantyhose and stretched them over the container, and used the newly made ring lid to hold it in place. then carefully trimmed the excess pantyhose away with a razor blade.

the mesh size takes some experimenting. i haven't found a mesh yet that is the perfect size. for most pantyhose i find if you just stretch it ever so slightly that is the right size. but it takes some experimentation. i've also tried cheese cloth, and the net from a breeder box i cannibalized. both of those were too large. basically you want the holes in the mesh just barely big enough for newly hatched brine shrimp to be able to slip through, but not so large that they all escape at once. sometimes using a double layer of the pantyhose helps.

i took the extra step of zip tying some old powerhead magnets to the rigid airline tubing to help keep the rig upright in the water, but you could just as easily glue a heavy rock to the bottom of the plastic container, or just wedge it against something.

then take your newly hatched brine shrimp, pour them in to the funnel, and then add just enough water to flush them down in to the container at the bottom.

easy peasy.

it can be helpful if you cover, bury, or otherwise block the light from the sides of the container. brine shrimp tend to swim towards lights, so blacking out the side of your container helps because then the only light coming in will be through the mesh top, which will help encourage them to swim upwards.

[Paul B]

In my video that is a feeder I built. It is filled every day with new born brine shrimp which they eat all day and it keeps them not only living a long life, but they keep spawning. Most tanks will not have enough natural pods to keep one, much less two mandarins alive for many years. Brine shrimp are very healthy and cheap to hatch and due to their yolk sack, they are full of oil which means energy and growth to a mandarin.
I feel you are wasting your time spot feeding one of those fish because their internal structure can not use food that way. They have no real stomach so they can't store much food. They need a constant supply unlike us or most fish except seahorses.
I have instructions for that feeder but I am not allowed to link to that here.

[jewlz]

Originally Posted by Paul B

I have instructions for that feeder but I am not allowed to link to that here.

Am I going to be able to find those instructions with a google search including some particular key words?

[anthonys51]

Originally Posted by Paul B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsGrL9nxJPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wisMeEfLTzI

what am i seeing? how do i look up how to make that

[CrayolaViolence]

Originally Posted by Brieninsac

It's hard to tell since they're so small. But he tends to eat around the same area I'm putting them.

Is no one else feeding their Mandarin's frozen pods?

I successfully fed and kept mandarins on mysis shrimp, however they started eating it on their own. I had them in a large tank with lots of farmed pods and a couple of tangs. The tangs ate the shrimp and soon so did the mandarins.

[anthonys51]

also paul where on long island are you, and are you a member or lira

[Grimreaperz]

Originally Posted by Paul B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsGrL9nxJPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wisMeEfLTzI

How? Where do I find the instructions?
Any tutorial videos?!

NVM think I got it....will need to do some experimenting...I want to use this not just for a ruby red blenny but feeding in general very good setup!

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[jewlz]

So of course I found the write up too. It seems like a very good idea. If I ever have a fish that needs to pick at its food, I'll make one up.

[yraveh]

Good morning,
2 Question plz:
1. when you pour the baby brine in the funnel, what made them swim down all the way to the container? why dont they remain suspended in the clear tubing?

2. regarding brine hatchery, do you always buy the brine egg?

[MondoBongo]

Originally Posted by yraveh

Good morning,
2 Question plz:
1. when you pour the baby brine in the funnel, what made them swim down all the way to the container? why dont they remain suspended in the clear tubing?

2. regarding brine hatchery, do you always buy the brine egg?

you wash them down the tube with a little bit of water. just enough to displace them in the tube, and flush them in the receptacle at the bottom.

yes. you wouldn't want adult brine, they're not as good nutritionally.

[taby15]

I have a spotted mandarin which started eating pods, then brine-small-mysis- pellets. I've had him for two years, fed once a day. I was unaware that they needed to eat so often.